tirely from the Duke's own personal attendants. Passing
them we rode through a grove of rare trees and came out on a broad space
of gravel which lay in front of the house. The building itself was of
great extent, built after the new Italian fashion, rather for comfort
than for defence; but on one wing there remained, as my companion
pointed out, a portion of the old keep and battlements of the feudal
castle of the Botelers, looking as out of place as a farthingale of
Queen Elizabeth joined to a court dress fresh from Paris. The main
doorway was led up to by lines of columns and a broad flight of marble
steps, on which stood a group of footmen and grooms, who took our horses
when we dismounted. A grey-haired steward or major-domo inquired our
business, and on learning that we wished to see the Duke in person, he
told us that his Grace would give audience to strangers in the afternoon
at half after three by the clock. In the meantime he said that the
guests' dinner had just been laid in the hall, and it was his master's
wish that none who came to Badminton should depart hungry. My companion
and I were but too glad to accept the steward's invitation, so having
visited the bath-room and attended to the needs of the toilet, we
followed a footman, who ushered us into a great room where the company
had already assembled.

The guests may have numbered fifty or sixty, old and young, gentle and
simple, of the most varied types and appearance. I observed that many
of them cast haughty and inquiring glances round them, in the pauses
between the dishes, as though each marvelled how he came to be a member
of so motley a crew. Their only common feature appeared to be the
devotion which they showed to the platter and the wine flagon. There was
little talking, for there were few who knew their neighbours. Some were
soldiers who had come to offer their swords and their services to
the King's lieutenant; others were merchants from Bristol, with some
proposal or suggestion anent the safety of their property. There
were two or three officials of the city, who had come out to receive
instructions as to its defence, while here and there I marked the child
of Israel, who had found his way there in the hope that in times of
trouble he might find high interest and noble borrowers. Horse-dealers,
saddlers, armourers, surgeons, and clergymen completed the company,
who were waited upon by a staff of powdered and liveried servants, who
brought and r